


Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil

by snowkatze



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Banter, First Kiss, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Post-Thor (2011), Sarcasm, Snark, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:13:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowkatze/pseuds/snowkatze
Summary: Baz is getting attacked by a wendigo and thinks all hope is lost - when a dark-haired stranger comes to his rescue. They are more similiar than one would expect.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch & Loki, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Kudos: 37





	Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil

_Well fuck_ , Baz thought when the wendigo was right on top of him. Its claws dragged across his chest, slicing through his skin. That was another shirt ruined. Baz pressed at the creature's wrists, trying for brute vampire strength, but they wouldn't budge. His wand was lying uselessly a few metres to the side, out of his reach.

So that was that then. Death by wendigo. It let out a screech and bared its rows of neat sharp teeth and saliva. It would rip him to shreds. There was no hope it would leave his face in tact. He would make an ugly corpse. He had imagined it a little more elegant. Dignified.

The wendigo pressed down on his chest and Baz clenched his teeth together. He tried to reach for his wand again, but it had fallen too far. Or his arms were too short. Or the wand not big enough.

Aleister Crowley. He was going to die. His breathing sped up, as much as it could with the weight on his chest. The wendigo leaned down and he could smell its foul breath against his face.

“You can't kill me,” Baz said, “I'm already dead.”  
The wendigo leaned closer. Maybe it only went after humans and once it realized he wasn't one of them, it would let go. The hope was probably futile. He should be bracing for it. He knew what it was like to die. He only had to do it a second time. It couldn't be that hard.

He pressed his eyes closed and imagined himself into his room at Watford. No pain in his chest. No hard ground beneath his back. And across from him no wendigo.

The wendigo roared. This was it. Baz kept his eyes closed and thought of Simon Snow.

Seconds passed. Baz waited. Suddenly, the weight lifted off his chest, there was a grunt, then a thud. He quickly opened his eyes and scrambled for his wand. There was a flash of green, the wendigo in a tumble. It let out another loud roar, then fell silent and collapsed. Baz stepped closer carefully, preparing for nasty surprises, but it laid still. It must have been dead. Once he was close enough to see the black spots on the creature's skin, he could see that there was a man lying under the monster.

So he had been saved. Like a damsel in distress. Wonderful.

He cast “ _**Load off my chest** _ ” just to feel useful. The wendigo was magically lifted off the man's chest and rolled onto the ground. A bloodied dagger fell out of his hand. The man was conscious, but looked a little worse for wear. He sat up slowly, his eyes darting around, probably looking for a threat. Baz let his eyes glide over the stranger's form. He had black hair to his shoulders, an unnaturally pale face (vampire?) and strange green eyes and black clothes. When the stranger's eyes landed on him, Baz immediately sneered and crossed his arms. This stranger might have saved his life, but he wasn't about to trust him.

“Thanks and all, but I really didn't need your help,” Baz snarled. The stranger's eyes darkened.

“This creature was about to tear the flesh off your bones,” the man said. “Should I have let it?”

“I had everything under control.”  
“So you agreed to be this creature's evening meal by choice?” the man said and stood up. “Good to know.”

“It was not a choice exactly,” Baz admitted. “We had a little bit of a disagreement.”  
Baz started to saunter around the man, making himself look casual while he was calculating every step.

“I'm not going to give you anything, you know,” he said, “whatever you were hoping to gain from this little saviour act, you can't have it.”  
“Ah,” the man said, drawing himself up straighter, “I do believe I am owed a favour. You would have been lost without me. A little gratitude would do you well.”

“A little humility would you.”

Baz' eyes never left the man's face. This wasn't the sort of place where you ran into strangers and had a friendly chat. If the man was this deep into the woods, this deep and alive, he must have been dangerous. And certainly not the kind of person to lend someone a helping hand out of the goodness of their heart. But the man was right – Baz was in his debt.

“What do you want?” Baz said.

The man picked up his dagger and let it vanish. Baz tried to contain his surprise and unwittingly took a step back. He hadn't heard the stranger cast “ **Into thin air** ” and there was nothing resembling a wand. The stranger looked at the trees surrounding them before his gaze settled on Baz' face.

“What is a child like you doing in a place like this?” he asked instead of answering.

“Hunting a monster,” Baz replied simply, sniffing and looking at the ground. His voice took on a sarcastic tone. “Carrying out a job fit for the Chosen One.”

“I see,” the stranger said and fixed him with an unsettling grin. “You have certainly come to the right place.” He shook out his hair, then continued: “A little boy playing hero.”

“I'm eighteen,” Baz said, even though he wasn't quite.

“All humans are children,” the man said, shaking his head. He crossed his arms and drew his eyebrows together. Not human, then. But able to do magic? Baz tried not to let the irritation show on his face.

“I will help you find this monster you seek,” the man said, “in my own self-interest, of course. It wouldn't do to get murdered by a creature so soon. I just got here.”

Baz swallowed down his protests. The man had just saved his life, he needed to show a little good will.

“Fine,” he bit out.

“The name is Loki,” the stranger said. _Peculiar name_ , Baz thought. Loki looked at him and Baz thought of three different ways to die. Walking over the edge of a cliff, making French Toast in the bathtub, accepting candy from a stranger...

“My name is Baz,” he said.

He started in one direction, trying to look like he knew where he was going. Loki kept his pace. They stepped over a few fallen trees. Baz ducked under the brushwood. He felt leaves and branches scratching and poking him everywhere, but paid it no mind.

“This is a dastardly place,” Loki said.

Baz wondered about the arrogance in his voice. Every sentence Loki said reeked of self-importance. Was Loki someone upper-class? Someone who thought himself better?

“I've heard it called the forest of decay,” Baz said. “It's said to be haunted.”  
“Why would you seek out such a dangerous place?” Loki asked, his tone of voice only suggesting curiosity.

“Maybe I just don't believe in ghost stories.”  
Loki paused. “Maybe you would be wiser to,” he said cautiously.

“How so?”  
Loki hesitated for a moment. “Tell me, boy, if you die and wake and walk among the living, does that make you a ghost?”

Baz thought of the nursery back at Watford. He kept his gaze on the path he was making for them through the woods.

“I hope not,” he said. There was something to it, really. He had been haunting the Chosen One for years, after all.

There was nothing resembling a path anywhere; in fact, it was as though nature wanted to make it as difficult as possible to get through the forest. Baz kept going, turning the thought that had led him here over in his mind, again and again.

“So tell me about this monster we are looking for,” Loki said from next to him. “Horribly dangerous, I assume.”

Baz clenched his jaw and thought carefully.

“It's something that deserves to die,” he said after a pause.

“I'm going to need you to be more specific.”

Baz stayed silent for a few moments.  
“I'll know it when I see it,” he said then.  
“Fantastic,” Loki said and rolled his eyes. “So we are looking for some vague nondescript creature in a forest filled with creatures? What has this one in particular done to become subject to your wrath? What are you looking for? Is it vengeance? Honour?”  
“I'm just trying to do the right thing,” Baz said.

“Ah, I see. So, you are trying to prove yourself? I have had enough of fools trying to prove their wretched _worthiness_ for a lifetime.”

“Oh, it's nothing like that.”  
“Then what?”

Baz could tell that Loki would not let up.  
“If you will not stop pestering me,  _fine_ . It's what my mother would have wanted. That's all I'm going to say.”

“So that's the kind of fool that you are – one desperately looking for his parents' approval.”

“Don't mock me. Not about this,” Baz said tensely.  
“I'm not. That would be fairly... hypocritical.”

“Is that why you're here, too?”  
“No, no. Even I know when I am beaten. I might be foolish enough to make the same mistake twice over, but at some point I do catch on.”

The undergrowth kept getting thicker.  
“So what _are_ you doing here?”  
“Hm. I'm just going wherever the Norns take me.”

“You're not from here,” Baz said, not making it sound like a question.

“I don't think any civilized being could grow up in these woods.”  
“Not what I meant.”

“You _are_ clever, child. To be quite frank... I am not certain _where_ I am. Midgard, judging from your substandard style of clothing.”  
“What's wrong with my clothes?” Baz asked, mildly offended.

“Could have a little more flair.”  
“That's true,” Baz conceded, allowing himself a smirk. There was a particularly big branch blocking their path. Baz quickly cast “ _ **Into thin air**_ ”. When he was finished, he turned to find Loki watching him curiously.

“What is this? Magic on Midgard? Clearly an inferior kind of magic, if you need objects and words to channel it.”

“Inferior to _what_? It's the _only_ way to do magic.”

“And yet you deny being a naïve child,” Loki said and shook his head.

“Where _are_ you from?” Baz couldn't help asking. Loki didn't seem particularly forth-coming, but Baz was too curious. They stepped out onto a clearing.

“Asgard. A place that a small mind such as yours cannot fathom.”

“Anyone ever tell you you're full of yourself?”  
Baz was about to come up with some other insult, when something shot out and threw itself at Loki. Baz took in the lion and the dragon head, the leathern wings, the snake for a tail – a chimera. A male one, corporeal. Good. They wouldn't have a chance against a female one, not without Snow. Baz hurriedly pointed his wand at the creature and cast “ _ **Off with your head!**_ ”. The lion head fell off, but the dragon head, which had been biting into Loki's shoulder, shot up and roared. “ _ **Sod off**_ _,_ ” Baz tried, but the chimera only took one step back before charging at him. Baz rolled out of the way, holding his wand tight. Loki threw his dagger into the creature's neck and it let out a strangled cry. It turned away from Baz and gave its full attention to Loki. “ _ **Off with your head!**_ ” Baz cast again, just as the creature was about to sink its teeth into Loki's neck. The head fell onto Loki's chest and he quickly shoved it off him, rolling to the side. Panting, he laid back.

“Shit,” Baz said and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. He wasn't used to fighting – and every fight seemed harder to win.

“I believe my thanks are in order,” Loki said from the floor. He was clasping his shoulder. Baz stepped closer.

“We're even now,” Baz said and crouched next to Loki.

“All the same. My magic... is weak in this place. In this realm.”

He bit his teeth together, clearly in pain.  
“Let me -” Baz started and Loki moved his fingers from the wound. Baz cast some healing spells, but it didn't do much – the wound was too deep.

“Maybe you should go home,” Baz said with a hollow voice. He didn't want to admit he was out of his depth.

“I have no home,” Loki answered. He sat up, probably trying to seem unperturbed, but Baz noticed the tenseness around his eyes.

“I'm sorry. I can't take you back to my home. I... I need to finish what I came here for.”

“Do you really think I am so weak as to be indisposed by a simple flesh wound? Certainly not. I require no help. And no rest. Let's find that monster of yours and show it to Hel.”

“Maybe that's not such a good idea -”

“We're going. I will hear no more of it.”

Loki strode forward into the direction they had been going, but he was clutching his shoulder again. Baz tried to shake the uncertain feeling and followed him.

“Maybe I could take you to your family -” Baz tried.

“I have no family.”

Baz thought of how Loki had talked of gaining his parents' approval earlier and decided not to press the issue. And it was not like he had much room to argue – they were too deep into the forest. Baz was not sure he would even know how to leave. The forest got darker the deeper they went. Loki's breathing got heavier. And Baz couldn't help but think it was  _ his  _ fault somehow. Loki was here because of Baz' stupid whims, because of the stupid thoughts circling in his brain over and over.

Who  _ was _ this strange man? Nothing added up. And it kept coming back to him... The peculiar language, the pale skin, how he had called Baz 'human'.

“You're not... a vampire. Are you?” Baz asked cautiously. Loki looked at him in surprise.

“What's a vampire?”  
Baz' eyebrows furrowed.

“Are you having me on?”  
“I... no.”  
“Vampires are... monsters, they-”

Loki sucked in a quiet breath.

“How would you know that I – I -” Loki kept his gaze firmly on the ground. “Vampire... is not, perhaps, another term for... Frost Giant?”

“What?” Baz grew more confused by the second. “No. They're not giant. And they don't have anything to do with frost. They just... Suck blood and kill people. It's what they do. They're – not human. They used to be, but – then they died and got Turned.”

“And you would think me one of these... vampires?”  
Baz shrugged.

“You're strange, that's all.”

“And... the monster we seek is one of these vampires?”  
Baz grimaced before quickly schooling his expression.

“Yes,” he said quietly. He could only see in the dark because of his heightened senses. There were no stars. Loki was... a complication. He would feel guilty leaving him to fend of the creatures of the forest alone. And while he could not stop thinking about what he had read earlier, he couldn't bear thinking about what he had come for. He was procrastinating. But now that he had Loki to worry about, he was painfully reminded that while he had striven to make it deep into the forest, he had never planned to make it back, too.

“Are vampires native to the forest?” Loki asked.  
“Oh. No. They hunt humans, so live among them.”

“But still you are certain that the one you seek is here in this forest.”  
“I am,” Baz said tersely.  
“There is something strange about you too, child. Do not be so witless to think I will not figure out what it is.”

Baz flinched slightly. He wondered how much longer the night was going to last. If you could even see the sunrise from this place and through the branches. 

There was hedge full of roses that they either needed to circumvent or get through.

“Why did you come here?” Baz asked again as they started to walk alongside the hedge. “I would think you would only come here if you were a complete fool. Or had a death wish.”

“Or if you lost your way.”

Loki lifted his bloodied hand of his shoulder and let his dagger appear in it.

“I don't have the patience for this,” he said and began cutting through the vines. Suddenly, the vines raked around his dagger and pulled it out of his hand. Another one wound around his arm. Baz was too shocked to act and felt a vine snake around his leg. In his surprise, he dropped his wand and couldn't pick it up again as vines wound around his whole body. Loki let out a groan of pain next to him when one of the vines snaked across his shoulder.

“You don't happen to have another dagger up your sleeve?” Baz asked. “Or an ace?”  
“No,” Loki ground out, “can't teleport either. I'm stuck.”

Baz pulled and twisted his arms, but the vines were stronger. They must have been magical somehow, so that they could withstand even his vampire strength.

“You can teleport?” Baz asked. He would have been more intrigued if he weren't so distracted. “I would have liked to see that.”  
“Do you think I'm lying, child?”  
“I think we're not getting out of here anytime soon.”

One of the vines wound around his neck and Baz feared it would start choking him soon.

“I can't cast a spell without my wand,” Baz said, “and I don't have any weapon.”

“You come well-prepared for a monster hunt.”

“Why don't you lay off the sarcasm,” Baz snapped, “I'm trying to wallow in misery.”

The vines stopped moving, but they had his arms and legs bound. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything. For a few minutes, they waited, just in case the vines would let up on their own.

“I think it's a defence-mechanism,” Baz said. “I don't think they'll let us out. And I can't think of any way to get us free.”

He tried to hold in the tears that started to prickle his eyes. He let out several jerky breaths as reality set in. He was going to die. Maybe he was going to die of thirst in a few days. Maybe the vines would wind further and start choking him. He didn't have to wait for any monster to rip him apart. And the worst part was, Loki was going to die, too. And that was on  _ him _ . If he wasn't such a coward, none of this would have happened.

“Great,” he said and laughed a bit hysterically. “So this is how I go. Like a fucking prince from _Sleeping Beauty_.”

“It's not how I would have imagined my death either,” Loki said, sounding strangely resigned. “I was never stupid enough to dream of Valhalla, of course. I was never a warrior. But I did imagine I would die a Prince of Asgard.”

“A prince?”  
“Not any more.”  
The vines cut into Baz' skin painfully. He could not see Loki's face from this angle, only the pitch black sky and the tall rose hedge.

“It's not as desirable to be a king as one would think, mortal,” Loki said.

“Mortal?” Baz felt another burst of laughter bubbling up in him. “Guess again.”

“So that's what was strange about you,” Loki said, “you are not human.”

“No. And neither are you. Though I must say, we're both looking pretty mortal right now,” Baz said softly.

“There is still time yet, child. Who knows what might happen.”  
“I wouldn't hold out for it.”  
“I am sorry we didn't find your monster. It must have grievously wronged you.”

“Ha. No worries. I'm getting exactly what I came for,” Baz said and turned his gaze to the sky again.

“You don't mean -”

Baz could hear the agitation in Loki's voice. He chuckled darkly.

“I do. I'm... I'm a vampire.”

He could say it, now. There was really no point in keeping a secret.  
“You suck the blood of humans and kill them, then?”

In shock, Baz stayed silent.

“I'm not judging,” Loki added.

“ _No_ , of course not,” Baz said, silently horrified. “I've never bitten a person. I never would.”

“I have a feeling you are a better man than me.”

“I'm a _monster_.”

“Oh, that's right. And you're just trying to do the right thing, am I correct? Silly mortal.”  
“ _Vampire_ ,” Baz insisted.  
“Mortal in all the ways that count. You don't know the first thing about monsters.”

“But my mom did,” Baz said and sniffed, thinking of the article he had read in the morning. “She was there when the vampires attacked the nursery. When they bit me. She _died_ – no. She – this morning I found out that she cast – that she – she got Turned that day. And then she _killed herself_. She knew how to do the right thing.”

Loki stayed silent for a moment, the air heavy with Baz' words.

“I'm sorry that happened to her. And to you. But it doesn't mean she was right.”

“She _was_. I've always known. I'm just not as brave as her. That's why I came here. To let someone else do the job. To a place where I _knew_ I wouldn't make it out alive. Even though I still want to.”

Baz was never usually this honest. But there wasn't a lot of time left to say the truth. All energy had drained out of his body. He didn't want to fight any more – not for his life, but against the knowledge that he still wanted it.

“I'm sorry,” Baz said, his eyes burning from tears. “I didn't mean for anyone to get dragged into this.”

“If you are so intent on killing monsters,” Loki said tiredly, “you will be happy that I am dying with you.”

“You said you were no vampire.”

“I'm not,” Loki said, “but I am a frost giant. A Jotun.”  
“I don't know what that is,” Baz admitted quietly.

“Imagine finding out you are the monster hiding underneath children's beds.”

“Oh, I can imagine that.”  
“Did your parents love you, boy?”  
“No one can love a monster. She loved who I was. Not who I became.”  
“Well. I was a monster all my life. Only I did not know. I was chasing after a love I could never hope to gain,” Loki said. “And I have proven everyone right. You tell me you have never hurt anyone. _I_ have. I have tried to eradicate an entire race of Jotuns. How is _that_ for a monster?”

“Simon Snow has killed vampires. Lots of them. And he's not a monster,” Baz said. “You were... misguided, probably. But you don't _have to_ be like that. I can't believe that an entire species is made up of monsters. Sounds like bullshit to me.”

“And how is that different from being a vampire?”  
“Vampires are _made_. And all that changes is that they become deadlier. Their only purpose is to kill.”

“' _Their_ '. You do not seem to count yourself as one of them. It might be your intellect poking through,” Loki said drily. Baz snorted.

“And that will be that, then,” Loki said, “a man and a monster dying in the woods.”

“We might both be monsters.”  
“We might both be men.”

“And here I was thinking you only saw me as a boy,” Baz said with exasperated humour.

He watched the night sky for a little longer.

“So how did you come here? Will you tell me now?”  
“We're not so different, you and I. I... let myself fall into the void. I didn't expect to come out of it alive, either. And I came out here. It must be a different universe. This is not the Midgard I know.”

“So that is why you are so strange? You come from a different universe?”  
“Oh, there might be an Asgard and a Jotunheim in this universe, too.”

They fell silent again. Baz thought about this morning, when he'd last seen Snow. He'd taken one long moment to look at him before he left. He was going to die thinking about that moment.

“Baz!” someone called suddenly. Baz couldn't turn his head. But that voice...

“Simon?”

Snow stepped into his field of vision and Baz lost his breath. He was  _ here _ .

“Oh no,” Snow said as he took in the scene before him, “what happened?”

And Baz thinks of ways to die. Inviting a chimera over for tea, falling down the stairs, kissing Simon Snow...  
“Attempt at gardening gone wrong,” Baz said.

“Stop talking and get us out of here,” Loki called.

“Right,” Snow said and lifted the sword he was already holding in his hand.

“This might work,” Baz said, “it's a magical sword. But be quick about it.”

When Snow started cutting through the vines, the vines tightened around Baz' body and he began choking. When he was free, he fell to the floor and sucked in a few deep breaths.

“How did you find me?” he demanded when he could speak again.

Snow was supporting Loki with one arm and examining the wound on his shoulder.

“I cast a tracking spell,” Snow admitted, not even sounding apologetic. “I... I knew you were up to something when you left this morning. When you didn't come back, I... Well. It's good that I came, isn't it? What _are_ you doing here?”  
“Yes, boy, what _are_ you doing here?” Loki repeated innocently. Baz nearly growled.

“I'm... helping him get home,” Baz said then. The last thing he wanted was for Snow's hero complex to kick in. “He's not from here. You _can_ go back, right?”  
“There might be another portal around here.”

“I'm going to help you, then,” Simon said. Baz let out a deep sigh. There was no appeasing Snow once he had set his mind on something. “I don't believe you, but. I'll help.”

“Another naïve mortal,” Loki said, “excellent.”

“Let's just keep going,” Baz said, eager to get away from the rose hedge. He couldn't help but feel lighter, more hopeful, now that Snow was here. It was terribly annoying.

But instead of walking alongside the hedge, Snow cut through it with his sword. Baz quickly ducked through the hole before any of the vines could grab him. The woods cleared up behind the hedge. A field with a myriad of flowers stretched out before them. In the middle of the field, there was a stone statue. It was a woman in a dress, holding a dancing position. Baz carefully watched it, not trusting the situation. When he turned, he saw that Snow was already walking into the field.

“You complete imbecile,” he called out, at the same time as Loki said, “you mule-headed oaf!”

The flowers wound around Snow's legs – Snow started making erratic movements with his sword. He cut some flowers, but they kept dragging him deeper. Baz watched in astonishment. He tried to think of a spell that would help.

“Let go of me!” Snow called.

“I can't use my magic,” Loki said, turning to him, “ _do_ something!”

Baz scrambled for his wand, but he had forgotten it on the other side of the hedge. He tried to walk back, but the hole had closed up again. There was nothing he could do. Snow's movements became more desperate. Baz was ready to run into the field when it happened – what inevitably happened whenever Snow took too long to fight something. He went off.

Baz was thrown against the hedge. He quickly stumbled away from it. The flowers on the field were obliterated. Baz cautiously stepped forward. The only thing left standing was the statue. Snow was still half-way in the ground. He wavered, then fell unconscious. Baz heart skipped a beat. He wanted to reach out to him. Then he noticed the vines from the hedge wrapping around Loki to his side. His head whipped around when he registered movement to his right.

The statue was moving – moving towards him. Her expression had gone furious.

“You have made a massacre of my field of flowers,” she snarled. “You are monsters. I will take you, with the long hair, as recompense for my flowers.”

“My deepest apologies,” Loki said, “we didn't mean any harm.”

“It will be forgotten in a moment, so long as you come with me. You are the prettiest one. I will make you my statue.”

“I'm flattered, really, but I'd rather not,” Loki said, but the vines prevented his struggles.

“You come with me, or I will kill you all,” she snarled, incensed.

_ Be brave _ , Baz thought.  _ Be brave, be brave, be brave.  _ He took a deep breath and thought of his mother casting “ **Tigre, tigre, burning bright** ”.

“Take me instead,” he said firmly, “he's extremely annoying. You wouldn't like him at all.”

“He has a terrible habit of self-pity,” Loki said, “and he is foolishly _reckless._ You have made the right choice in me.”

“Don't do this, Loki,” Baz said. “I think the portal might be on the other side of the field, in that pond.”

“You are a child,” Loki snapped, “you have lived not even half a life. I won't let you waste that. Not for _me_.”

“The portal is right there, Loki. Go _home.”  
“I don't have a home!”_

“I don't believe that. And I don't believe you are a monster. You just need another chance. Just bloody _take it_.”  
“And pay the prize for it? And have that on my conscience for the rest of my life? I don't think so. Just walk away from here. Forget this ever happened. Forget any stupid reason you had for coming here.”

“I've been dead for a long time,” Baz snapped, “this won't change anything.”

“Ah, dying. I'm quite used to it, too.”

“I thought I was just a worthless mortal with inferior magic and no sense of style. What are you _doing_?”

“The right thing. Maybe,” Loki said and turned back to the statue. “It's okay. I agree. You can have me.”  
While they argued, Snow had regained consciousness. The statue was looking at him and Loki. She didn't see Snow pushing himself up and out of the ground. He approached them. Baz was careful not to look at him directly. Then he raised his sword and let it come down on the statue. She turned around and made a grab for the sword immediately. Baz dived down and slipped his arm through the hedge to reach for his wand.

“A monster doesn't save people,” Loki yelled at him. “It might save other monsters. So did you save one or did you not? You can't have it both ways.”

Baz pointed his wand at Loki and cast: “ _**Let him go!** _ ” A few of the vines came loose. Baz kept casting the spell, but he could feel his magic diminishing. Snow was still fighting the statue. Finally enough of the vines came loose for Loki to break out.

“I've tried to kill my monster,” Loki said to him, “And I ended up here instead. If I were a more feeble-minded man, I'd call it destiny.”

“I'd call it luck,” Baz said.  
“Luck... Yes. I believe you are right.” Loki smirked. “Farewell, mortal. Do try not to get yourself killed.”

With these words, he made off to the pond.

Baz tried casting “ _**Freeze** _ ” on the statue, but it only slowed her down a little.

“Snow,” he yelled, “come on!”  
He cast “ _ **Make way for the king!**_ ” and the hedge parted. Snow slammed his sword against the statues' arms, grinding his teeth together. “Snow!” Baz yelled again and grabbed his arm. “Run!”

And he ran and dragged Snow with him. He could see in the dark, so he led them through the trees as smoothly as he could. And he didn't slow down. He didn't want any monster to catch up with them.

They kept running, until Baz could tell that Simon's breath was coming short. He leaned against a thick tree, breathing heavily. Snow leaned next to him.

Baz didn't know what to think. He had been so certain when he had come here. Now everything seemed upside down. Then he turned his head – there was Simon Snow, red-cheeked, breathing,  _ alive _ . The one thing Baz was always sure of.

“Simon -” Baz started. “I need to know if – Because you'd do the right thing. I _know_ you would. Please -”  
Baz swallowed. He had to tell him, otherwise he would never know. And there was nothing left to lose.

“I'm a vampire, Snow.”  
He waited with bated breath. Snow was just looking at him. Open-mouthed. Nothing else. Then -

“You called me Simon before.”

Baz laughed, because it was all too much.

“I tell you I'm a monster, and that's your response?”  
“I... I knew you were a vampire. I mean. I didn't have proof. But I knew. Can't be wrong about everything, me” Snow said and smiled. “But you've never bitten anyone, have you?”  
“No.”  
“Right again. Seems like I'm having a streak. So, when I tell you you're not a monster, it must be true.”

“Simon-”

Baz felt close to tears again, but he didn't want to break down in front of Snow.

“I thought you were stronger than me. I thought you would do the right thing.”  
“I am. I am doing the right thing.”  
Snow was close, but he leaned in closer. He tentatively put a hand on Baz' chest. Nothing was going the way Baz thought it would.

“Baz, when you didn't show up in our room tonight, I... I went crazy, I was so worried.”

“Worried,” Baz said and swallowed, trying to get himself under control, “or suspicious?”  
“A little bit of both. But mostly worried. Why did you come here? Are you insane? It's the most dangerous magical forest.”

“I know. That's why I came. I was... I... had a few things wrong, apparently.”  
“Come home with me, Baz. Please. Let's get away from this place.”  
Simon was smiling, at _Baz_. And suddenly Baz could think of three ways to _live_. Playing piano, inventing a spell, kissing Simon Snow...

He licked his lips. And Simon was right there, and so  _ alive _ . Baz leaned closer just the tiniest bit.

“Can I -” Baz said. “Could I-”

“Baz,” Simon said quietly. Baz leaned a little closer still.

“I can't lose you,” Simon whispered. “Come here. I need you to-”

Simon moved his head and their lips brushed together. Simon was so warm – so warm – and only now, Baz was realizing how cold he had been. Baz pushed against Simon's lips. He felt so  _ alive –  _ Simon felt so alive, but Baz felt so  _ alive _ . Maybe Loki had been right. Maybe  _ Simon _ had been right. Maybe this was a forest full of monsters, but he was not one of them. Maybe there were no monsters in this forest.

He tangled Simon's fingers with his and lit a flame in his palm. It was still dark. They were still deep in the forest. Baz took a hesitant step forward, then he became more assured. He knew the way out.


End file.
